By Pavel Strnad

Would you want to go to the movies only to see films imported from other countries, never one from your own? Czech politicians apparently would. At least that's the message they sent last week when they killed a bill that would have increased the Czech Film Fund's annual grant from its current, anemic level of 2 million euros ($2.6 million/56.5 million Kč) — one of the lowest levels of any European Union nation — to a more functional 12 million euros.

It would have done this through a 3 percent levy on revenues from sales of cinema tickets, home videos and commercial television advertising time. This additional money would not only have given Czech filmmakers more base financing for their own productions, it would have also opened the door for the creation of proper international marketing programs for Czech films and allowed Czech producers to become serious partners for international co-productions.

The international film industry is currently dominated by one player: Hollywood. Some 60 percent to 70 percent of gross box office receipts in any given country goes to Hollywood films; approximately 10 percent is devoted to non-Hollywood, nondomestic films. Therefore, it is vitally important that indigenous film production be given tools that allow it to exist, and thus provide its audiences with films that speak their language and tell their stories.

As one of the many filmmakers involved for eight years in the process of creating this bill, I was shocked when I learned that it failed to pass. And then bitterly disappointed when I found out that in the 10 minutes leading up to the vote, 21 ministers from the ruling Social Democratic Party (ťSSD) literally checked out of the system on us — they turned off their voting machines and left the chamber with no intention of returning — thus ensuring the bill's defeat.

And to add insult to injury, our culture minister, Vitďzslav Jandák, introduced the bill to MPs by saying, "You are free to vote as you like. It really doesn't matter to me." For the law to pass, 101 votes were necessary. It failed by three. Since this was a vote to override a presidential veto, and it failed, this specific bill is now dead forever. To make a new one means starting from ground zero.

European governments provide direct support to their film industries in two basic ways. One is to make it a state budget item and so earmark a certain amount of the budget specifically for it — which often entails either raising taxes or diverting tax dollars from another program. The other is a method employed by the French, which raises the money directly from levies on the exhibition sector of the film industry — i.e., theater tickets, home video and television advertising.

This latter method is income-tax-neutral — it only affects you if you like film and go to the cinema or rent films. It also allows the industry to support itself. And, by keeping this money outside the calculations and negotiations of the state budget, it lessens the political pressure that can be brought to bear on filmmakers, thus helping to ensure their freedom of expression. Sounds like an optimum approach for any politician.

It certainly did in 1998, when ťSSD took power after the conservative government of the Civic Democratic Party (ODS), headed up by then-Prime Minister Václav Klaus, resigned midterm over numerous problems, including the economy. Due to this political-economic turmoil, incoming ťSSD Culture Minister Pavel Dostal realized that no budget money could be allocated to film and so opted for the French model.

In retrospect, this remains a solid decision. What remains less so was his decision to try to introduce the bill through individual amendments to the two pre-existing laws covering the film industry — one covers the state film fund and the second the audiovisual sector in general. His opinion was that this would make it easier to pass. Filmmakers felt that one cohesive law incorporating all film-related legal issues would have been the wisest long-term solution, though more difficult to achieve.

The amendment approach was ultimately decided upon, though ironically it turned out not to be easy at all. It took five years to get Parliament to agree to debate the bill. And then in the midst of that process, Dostal died of cancer and was replaced by Jandák. After more than a year in Parliament, the bill finally passed but was vetoed by now-President Václav Klaus.

The reason given: Film is a business like any other, and therefore should not receive state support. A final vote by Parliament to override this veto was scheduled — it was to be the last vote on the last day of this Parliament prior to national elections. With these elections fast approaching, broadcasters, who would have had to contribute to the fund under this law, maximized all their lobbying skills and a group of politicians, who until the day before the final vote had been telling the filmmakers that they supported them, became turncoats.

Czech filmmakers have lost a major battle, but they haven't surrendered. Film is much more than a "business like any other." We hope that one day soon our politicians will understand this as well.